eleven & a sea creature

Oh, wow.  I've been trying to get this up and posted for a few days(!) now.  But what with me just plain wanting to go to bed early and then, last night, it didn't happen.  Last night: J bug up until midnight, J bug not wanting to lay down to nurse, J bug super tired and super cranky, me super tired and super cranky, my man super tired and super cranky.  I was thinking "ear infection" because that seems to be what all mothers dread and yet Juniper has never had one.  I still don't know.  She finally fell asleep lying next to me.  We'll see what tonight brings.  Oh, goodness we love her but last night was rough.  Plus, her long nails clawing our faces didn't help.    

In the meantime, our week:

:: We quietly celebrated another birthday in our house.

We noted the day, gave her a biscuit and an extra massage and marveled at her resiliency and her will to live (which is, I believe, powered directly by her access to Juniper's highchair region).  Osa is ELEVEN.  Which isn't that old for a dog, but for a dog who's been grossly epileptic for nine years and had congestive heart failure for one year, it's pretty darned impressive.

I rescued Osa from the pound when she was one and for nine years, she was my everything.  My husband was even jealous of her, occasionally posing the question, If we were on a sinking ship and you could only save one of us....  But in the last year a new force has entered our lives and Osa has had to settle for pats on the head instead of massages.  Whenever I think about that, how much love and attention Osa has gone without in the last year, I get a sick feeling in my gut.

But whatever love has been lost, Juniper has more than made up for.  Particularly now that J bug is learning to pet, with an open hand, and not just poke her in the eye.          

 
:: Halloween.  We had a homemade, hand-me-down skunk costume which was *awesome*, but was made for an 8-month-old, not a one-year-old, and when we put it on Juniper the wrist cuffs were so tight they made her hands turn purple before we even got out the door.  Reason #537 why hand-me-downs rock: we just happened to have an extra Halloween costume hanging in the closet.  Behold, the Octopus:

Sorry.  Make that a PINK Octopus!

June bugs and I went to a Mom & Baby Halloween workout, which was mostly *crazy* with a little bit of sweat thrown in (I was still sore the next day).

And on Sunday, my man and I drug Juniper around the town square where--it seemed--pretty much every kid within a thirty mile radius was trick-or-treating at the local businesses.  We went just to go, not that Juniper can eat candy or anything.  We had a blast admiring the color and costumes for a whole ten minutes before my man was all, I kind of want some candy.  And the next thing we knew, my man was pimping out our daughter for Halloween candy.  

The best Headless Horseman this side of the Snake.  (Who, incidentally, was actually a Headless Horsegirl.)

::  Of course,    

Now I know you can't tell from this picture, but everyday we are blown-away by how smart Juniper is.  Just the other day I was crawling down the hall (we were playing a game of chase, and I was the one running away) when Juniper came up behind me and grabbed my shoe.  I said, Yeah, that's mama's shoe.  Where's Juniper's shoe?  (She was in her socks and I didn't even know where her shoes were.)  Well, Juniper looked me straight in the eye, spun around, crawled in the other room and grabbed her little orange shoe.  

::  In other, unrelated news--I just wanted to show off the apron I made for my mom (many, many thanks to my step-mom).  I will not say for what occasion I made it, and how many months ago that occasion passed, for that would be too embarrassing.  At any rate, I think it turned out pretty great and the colors will be gorgeous on my mom: